Step-ladder



(No Model.)

2 D. W. BROOKS.

STEP LADDER. No. 257,207. Patented May 2,1882.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DAVID W, BROOKS, OF FREDERICK, MARYLAND.

STEP-LADDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 257,207, dated May 2, 1882.

Application filed November 2, 1881.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DAVID W. BRooKs, of Frederick, in the county of Frederick and State of Maryland, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Step Ladder Hinges, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is a combined hinge and bracket attachment adapted for use in stepladders, and serving as a means of strengthening the upper parts of the main rails to' support the platform, and as an attachment for the swinging legs.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side View of a step-ladder with my attachment. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the attachment; Fig. 3, a perspective view of the cap-piece for the swinging legs.

The attachment is in two parts-thebracket A and the cap-piece B. The bracket is east or stamped metal, the body portion being tlat, with an outwardly-turned flange, a, at the upper edge, which flange at one point, e, is curved to form a rounded socket, or, adapted to the curved upper end of the cappiece B, which is socketed to receive the end of one of the swinging legs D, and serves to confine the wood and prevent splitting. The bracket is secured to the side ot'one of the rails, E, of the ladder, and y when the latter is in two parts, as shown, serves as a means of strongly connecting said parts and to strengthen the same.

The flange a has slots 11 '6, through which to pass screws into the platform F, the heads of the screws holding the platform down on the (No model.)

flange, while the slots permit the screws to move slightly laterally, thereby preventing the screws from tilting and working in their holes and becoming loose, as results when they are passed through contracted openings.

The bracket may be cast with a lug, s, which passes through a hole, 1, in the cap-piece B, and serves to pivot the latter and the leg D to the bracket; but a screw-pin may be used. The curved portion 0 of the flange a coincides with a circle of which the pin 8 is the center, so that the leg may swing freely; but the bearing is wholly in the curved socket, removing the strain from the pin 8, which serves merely to hold the leg to the side ofthe bracket.

The attachment thus constructed may be cheaply cast without expense for finishing, and strengthens the ladder at a point where it is generally weak.

pl claim- A hinge attachment for step-ladders, consisting of a bracket, A, having a flange, a, with a curved socket, c, and pin s, and a perforated round-ended cap-piece, B, adapted to receive the end of one of the legs, and having its bearing in the curved socket, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two suhscribing witnesses.

DAVID W. BROOKS.

Witnesses:

J OSEPH A. RIDENUUR, HENRY GOLDENBERG. 

